The Final Answer
by Vincent Hales
Summary: X is lost, without hope for a future with anything more than killing in it... Alia is unsure of her own past, let alone the path her future should follow... One way or the other, a Final Answer will be reached.  X/Alia. RR, constructive criticism please.


A/N: And now, for the exciting (well, maybe not exciting), and anticipated conclusion of X and Alia's emotional journey. Also... I've been gone for 7 years because I pretty much stopped writing. I've gotten a sudden drive to write again, and before starting on fully original work, I thought I would complete some unfinished business here. So here you all go, with my deepest apologies for making some people wait so long...

Disclaimer: This is a Songfic, using the song, Final Answer, as sung by The Calling. I do not own the characters involved in this story (X and Alia), nor do I own The Calling or any of the band's songs (other than having the CD to use the songs as inspiration, of course).

Final Answer

"What have I done?" A question X had asked himself for the fifteenth time that day. Over the past three days, X had been asking himself what he had done, what might have gone wrong, why Alia would run away from him like that… He just couldn't come up with a plausible reason why she would run from him if she weren't afraid of something. It must be me, or something I did.

This happened to be one of X's leave days. Though, Light only knew how many _actual_ days of leave he had accrued in the time he had been registered as a Maverick Hunter. Through the course of this day, X had been wandering from place to place, hoping to find somewhere that would best help him think things through.

The arboretum was the first place he'd tried, but the quiet and lazy movement of the plant life in the artificial wind had failed to elicit any lasting peace of mind. So, he'd moved on to try the fifth floor balcony overlooking the Main Courtyard. It was smaller and generally unused for it's size and openness (a bad place for trysting, and a worse place for talking "in private"). However, it was just perfect for thinking privately. Or so X had thought. Somehow, seeing the other Hunters go about their business, usually in pairs, possibly couples… It made X uneasy, unsettled.

So the search continued. To the shooting range; to meet too many people, and no open booths. To the Mech Bay, only to be intercepted and turned back by a flustered and annoyed Douglas; the Mech suits were apparently under repair, and the Bay was supposed to be off limits. X became so desperate as to try his own room, though he had a feeling it would make him feel too stifled. The confines of his room were less stifling and more confining, so he left there as well.

It seemed that nowhere in all of the places he had been would fit his criteria. In frustration, X let his feet go where they would and eventually found himself in the last place he would ever have looked for solace. He looked squarely at the door to the Control Room. Not even ten feet from the other side of this door, Alia is sitting, doing her job. I'll bet she's already past the other day. Feeling some strange sense of solace in knowing that the one person who could answer him and give him the end of all of his woes, X slid down the wall, sitting with his legs bent and his arms propped on his knees. There he stewed, thoughts going into overdrive.

Throughout the entire course of the search, X had walked about in what could have been easily confused as a state of shock. As if he were missing some appendage… Though, this particular appendage seemed to be something that he couldn't get used to missing. He just kept thinking of those last few moments with Alia. X analyzed each and every aspect of the physical recordings he had in his memory banks, but could still come up with nothing that indicated a reason for why Alia would just run off like that.

From the small amount of coolant in the form of perspiration, to the way Alia had held her body; X could just find nothing. Over and over he ran those visual files, superimposed upon his true surroundings, a second screen to view and review while engaged in his search. Over and over, he found nothing. With nothing found, his feelings became more and more hurt. He had hoped to find something that would indicate what Alia was running for, then he would not think it was because of him…

However, having watched something like that, over and over again, finding nothing, that was a blow all by itself. Having watched Alia _run_ from him, over and over again, _that_ was the true blow. If X had had any sense of self-worth, or self-esteem, it had vanished long ago. Almost as if part of him had just withered and died.

She really ran from me… Like I was some… monster. Like my touch was repulsive… X's thoughts drifted to the memories of the dozens of Mavericks he had personally "deactivated". Killed, he mentally amended. I killed them, all. So many dead, some weren't even Infected when I did it. I am a monster, aren't I? His thoughts were not helping his mood, nor his mental health. He knew this. Why can't I ever seem to get a chance to see love? I seem doomed to see death and destruction, not meant for real happiness.

_I want love_

_To carry me through_

_All of the moments, I'd kindly undo._

All of the things X had seen, the things he had done, he found repulsive now. He couldn't help but make note of how he had felt so little when actually doing them. Just like the perfect little trained killer I'm supposed to be, eh? He couldn't help put remember the dozens of Mavericks he had personally retired, again. Most had died with a certain look of fear in their eyes. That look of a dying person, it haunted X, though he almost never thought of it. He always just kept it bottled up, never needing, or wanting to think about it.

_Locked away,_

_So I can feel safe._

Then again, X was just like that. He was never one to let his real feelings out. For good reason, apparently. Not even love would keep in the face of his true feelings… Why? All I want is some peace from this wretched, day-to-day existence! Some way of keeping the Dogs of War from taking my mind. I need something more to fight for…

Then X shook his head, ruefully, almost. His existence was due to a man years ahead of his peers in the field of Robotics. That man made X with the capability to choose his own path, to be who and what he wanted to be. Yet here he sat, bound by law to protect humans, bound by his own personal oaths to keep the innocent and weak safe from those who would hurt them. There he sat, contradicting everything he had become, in a single thought.

The job I have grown accustomed to doing, the things that need doing… They mean nothing now. I… I don't know what I'm fighting for anymore. I… Alia. X looked up, slowly from his position against the wall, and he let out an anguished whimper, so soft as not to be truly audible, but _felt_. Tears fell, and he jerked his head skyward. Why? Why can't I have the simplest thing? I just want one thing for myself! I give and I give, but I have never taken anything for myself, and this is how I'm repaid? It's not fair!

X's head sank low, his eyes closed hard, an expression of deep pain across his young, but handsome features. His voice a bare whisper, for all that his throat was so constricted that that was all he could manage, "Please. I need to know. I… I can't take this. Please, God. Just grant me this one thing…"

_Now that I'm down on my knees, begging for a change._

Inside the Control Room, no one knew of the pains of their resident hero and legend. Even if someone had known, no one would have believed it possible, since X was, of course, 'invulnerable'. Seven feet tall, incapable of feeling fear, unopposed in combat, and gifted with a seemingly preternatural ability to Hunt, if the local urban legends were to be believed. No, no one would ever have suspected that the great Megaman X was even capable of being emotional, let alone because of rejection.

No one, that is, except for the one person who happened to be the _cause_ of all of X's woes. Not that Alia wasn't without her own problems, of course. Ever since she had run away from X and everything that could have been that night, Alia had alternately beat herself up over it, and thanked God.

When she was thinking about how much of an idiot she was, she couldn't fathom why she did what she did. I just wasn't thinking. I didn't even know what not to do, and running seemed like such a good idea, since I could at least regroup and retry. Some regrouping. I can't even muster the courage to go find him. She felt afraid of what she would find. Would he be angry, unhappy, disappointed, heartbroken? She didn't know, and that was part of what held her back.

Being a Spotter, she needed to know things, it was in her nature. Not knowing what to do in a situation was a bad thing for her. Right now, she didn't know where she stood in X's eyes. And that was why she came around to thanking God. Even so, I can't help but be glad that I did run. I _need_ to think this through. I can't go into this bullheadedly, and I can't afford to mess this up. Especially for X. But still… What would have happened?

_Look down at the water,_

_Before I jump in,_

_To find I was sinking fast in all that might have been._

Probably nothing I could have handled, that's what. At least, that's what Alia had to keep telling herself. She had to believe that she'd done the best thing. She had to, or she just wouldn't be able to live with herself. She knew X was probably off sulking somewhere, all because she was too overwhelmed with the truth. If he hadn't kissed me, would it still be like this? ... No. No, I don't think so.  
>She remembered that that tender moment was something more than any mere kiss. It opened her eyes, her mind, her heart, and her soul. The moment his lips had touched hers, she knew. She knew everything. But that doesn't mean I -understand- anything, damn it! It's not fair! Why can't it happen like in the fairy tales? Alia was sure she was only one of a hundred million people who thought something along those lines today alone. Probably a much higher number than that, truth be told.<p>

She knew all she needed to know, but at the same time, she didn't. Alia didn't quite understand how this could be so. It just was. Is this what Love is like? Being so unsure of yourself, of your own thoughts that, you just _have_ to rush into things? Sometimes rushing into things kept those involved honest, let them be more true to the moment and themselves. Time would tell, but the decisions of love might just need to be made quickly and without all this dilly-dallying.

_What I need now is an honest answer, to make things better_

_You can see now my hands are tied, and I surrender_

_So I'll wait here for your final answer, yeah, your final answer._

Alia was sure she knew how she really felt; she did care for X. She cared more than 'just a little', and he was -not- 'like a brother' to her. She didn't want to be 'just friends', she didn't want to hurt him, and what made her true feelings more obvious to her; his happiness, his state of well-being really mattered to her own happiness, her own well-being. She only hoped he didn't hate her for what she'd done.

_Is there love without hate?_

While Alia was mulling things over with a firm hand to try to solidify her true feelings for X, the next Blue Bomber was musing to himself about the way of the world, what he'd learned from watching those in it... From seeing Zero be so hurt at the loss of Iris those years ago. Love, it seemed, was not without its own particular pains. I think I could deal with her not loving me... if she'd just tell me. It wouldn't change how I feel, but at least I could … He didn't want to think about moving on and letting her go... it hurt.

_Is there pleasure without pain?_

The thing about making decisions about anything quickly, Alia had determined, was that even then, you still needed to know enough of the big picture before you were too hasty. I know, now, I should have stayed with X... talked about things. I'm a coward that he doesn't deserve. A liar to myself... a thief to him.

_I have seen all my mistakes._

The Operator knew that X had put everything he felt for her into that kiss, into talking with her. She'd known him for so long, worked with him and grown very fond of him. Alia was possibly the only reploid in Maverick Hunter HQ, aside from Zero, that might have suspected he had feelings for her. And when he'd bared his soul and offered his love to her, she'd thrust it back upon him, afraid, selfish. She'd worried about -her- future, -her- feelings. She'd pushed him away, when he might possibly be the best thing that could yet have ever happened to her.

_I cast you out, but now, I want you back._

Tapping out a short series of commands at her console in the Control Room, she'd made her decision. Alia was going to talk to X, and the thanks she was offering to whatever God watched over Reploids became a prayer for strength. She knew that this decision should have been come to days ago, that she couldn't reasonably expect X to just be sitting idly by to wait on her to come back to him... not after the way she'd acted. So stupid...

_So light me again, cause my heart is turning black._

X was still sitting outside the Control Room, his thoughts having calmed to some degree and his mind was wandering idly without really paying any attention to the content. He was therefore caught by surprise when the door he was sitting across from slid open and Alia stepped out, a determined look on her face. His expression was best expressed as an old human expression, 'Like a deer in headlights.' X's thoughts ran immediately to that familiar litany... What have I done? Although, this time it seemed more as if he wondered how he'd gotten this chance to see things to a conclusion.

_What I need now is an honest answer, to make things better_

_You can see now my hands are tied, and I surrender_

_So I'll wait here for your final answer, your final answer._

Alia's eyes met with X's, and while she was shocked that he actually -was- 'just sitting idly by to wait on her return', she was no less determined to be truthful to him, to not let him go again. "X, I..." Her voice cracked with nerves and uncertainty, but a moment later, she had herself under control. "Think back to that night we had, and know that I remember it, what we shared. What you gave me."  
>She stepped forward and let the Control Room door slide shut behind her, and stood over X, a roll reversal for her, the non-combatant Spotter looming over the mighty Megaman X. "I know you don't have any reason to want to see me anymore, but..."<p>

_Remember the night you wore that dress?_

_It flowed through our lips._

_Drink after drink and kiss after kiss._

X's breath caught in his throat, and he was unable to say anything, unable to -do- anything. Was this really happening? Did he somehow drift off and start dreaming? He could feel that he hadn't, and what she was saying was contradicting the conclusions he'd made for himself... he didn't dare make any further conclusions until she'd said her peace... Please... stay with me...

_I'm still holding on, day after day._

_Don't run away._

"X, I didn't know what to do that night. I'm a horrible person for being like that to you. I don't expect you to take me for my word on this, but I need you to understand, to know how -I- feel." She stepped closer to X, kneeling and bring herself to reach his level, to meet his eyes on even ground. Her expression was solemn, resolute. And filled with a real and genuine love._  
><em>

_I want love,_

_To carry me through._

The blue armored Hunter felt as if the world had fallen from beneath him, as well as that he was made of air. The feelings running through him conflicted so that he couldn't help but feel confused at the situation, the turn of events that had lead to this situation. He was -sure- he'd done something wrong, and now... now Alia seemed to think it was -her- fault...? So... it wasn't me, and she still wants to see me? Is that the case? Tell me, please!

_Can you tell me what I'm supposed to do?_

The blonde spotter smiled gently and leaned forward, embracing X in what was most certainly an awkwardly positioned hug... To X, though, it didn't matter how it had happened, just that it had. His eyes closed and he let himself relax into the touch. He reached up and held Alia with his own arms, and just let himself be in that moment.

The peace that could be felt in the simple moment they shared wasn't easily quantifiable, though it was potent and pure. Alia was the first to break the moment's silence by softly speaking to X. "You gave me your intentions, your affections, and I wasn't very kind to you... I think you should have the right to be offered the same choice."  
>She didn't wait for him to respond or try to explain with words anymore... Instead, she leaned in and kissed him. Like before, the rest of the world seemed to fade from existence, and in the moment of the kiss, all that mattered was X and Alia. This kiss, though, was not tentative, hesitant or unsure. There was more passion, more raw need in this intimacy, and the emotions they both felt were soon roiling in stimulation. Alia's only clear thought at the moment, felt so clearly if only because of the desperation she felt attached to it... Please let me know what I'm doing...<p>

_So what I need now is an honest answer, to make things better._

X was at first surprised by Alia's boldness. Then he let himself melt into the caress, the touch of his lips on hers a lifeline to his feelings before. He found himself having shifted his position and brought Alia out of her kneeling stance and sitting next to him, the kiss unbroken by his careful actions. His own thoughts, however, were not of the specific actions he'd needed to make to bring more comfort to the situation...  
>He'd thought he'd been the weaker one; despite being the combat-hardened veteran that had learned many of life's hardest lessons in the field... It took strength to do what he did, yet all his strength left him when when he thought he'd lost Alia to his own foolish actions. Now, he could see that he'd had strength all along, he'd just needed to find her again.<br>His thoughts, what few of them that were not swept up into the moment, were of how he knew he'd never really had any choice but to follow his heart, to wait for this moment, and surrender his fate completely to the point in time in which Alia had come to him...

_You can see now, my hands are tied, and I surrender._

The kiss came to a close, Alia's soft lips slowly leaving X's. She felt it necessary to complete the cycle, to finish things... she owed X that, at least. "I was stupid when I ran from you, and should never have thought anything but that you and I can and should be happy together. I'm not afraid of anything that lay before us, so if you'll accept me after everything, I want us to be together."

_So forgive this to bring us back together. _

X's blue eyes opened slowly, somewhat unfocused from the intensity of the moment he'd just shared with his … She is my one great love. She is. A smile broke out on the Hunter's face, bright and full of the youthful energy that X had once had when he had first began his career as a Hunter. "Alia... I never was upset with you. I thought... never mind what I thought, it was stupid anyway."

_So I'll wait here for your final answer, your final answer._

Alia's eyes slowly started to water, the feeling of the moment finally piquing and X was finally going to say what she had waited so long to really hear, despite never having had a clue how to react to him... until now.  
>He put his hands on hers, looked deeply into her eyes and with a true sense of sated anticipation said to her, "I want us to be together, as well. I love you, Alia." He couldn't think of anything to say that didn't sound like a cliched vow or unnecessary promise. His feelings were clear enough, and answer enough to her unspoken question... and to his. I didn't try hard enough, that's all. Never again. I'll always be there for her. Always.<p>

Alia couldn't help but flush, her already watering eyes finally spilling over, tears of real joy flowing down her cheeks, warm yet almost unnoticed. "And I love you, Megaman X. We have a future to go live... together." Her smile was so bright, so radiant, she knew she had to be one of the two happiest reploids on the base... And she planned to keep the other one happy for the rest of her life.

A/N: And that's it, folks. I hope you enjoyed the final chapter in the trilogy of songfics using The Calling's Camino Palmero album to draw my inspiration from. I do wonder how many of you might have noticed the subtle reference to Missing near the first half and to My Last Breath at the very end, there... If not, you can go read it, and things will come full circle throughout all of my songfictions.


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